The U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team (CAT)

Did you know there is an elite special-ops team inside the US Secret Service?

Many of our readers from England got a peek at the President’s security detail while POTUS traveled around London over the weekend, and a particular reader noticed somthing that caught their eye. It wasn’t the sharply dressed regular Secret Service agents, it was a squad of men in all black, in heavy tactical gear, sporting Knights Armament SR-16 rifles that were sticking out of the armored Suburbans that accompany the Presidential Limousines.

What he unknowingly spotted was the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team (CAT) for short, and they’re always one step away from POTUS, whether it’s in the air or on the ground. There is a undisclosed amount of teams but normally two teams, five agents in each, will be with in the President’s motorcade in two separate Suburbans.

While regular agents in the service will jump on POTUS and make sure his body is shielded, its CAT operator’s sole purpose to attack and defeat the threat with overwhelming firepower. They have similar training in comparison with tier 2 special operation forces like U.S. Army Rangers.

The president visited Germany shortly after his stay in U.K. so his motorcade looked a bit “light” on heavily armored black Suburbans, the reason for this is because the Service has to preposition most of their gear and equipment in a country before POTUS arrives. So the service had to send two sets of vehicles using USAF C-17 Globemasters. Although for some unknown reason this time around, they requested additional locally sourced security for the Presidential motorcade. This extra security came in the form of two teams of British Specialist Protection & Specialist Firearms Officers in unmarked police cars as seen below.

It’s unknown if extra security was requested in Germany, maybe they had two CAT teams there already or maybe not. Here’s a little parting fact for your brain to munch on, it’s estimated there are 12 Presidential limousines aka the “Beasts.”